Druridge Bay, an eight mile arc of sand running north from Cresswell to the harbour of Amble in Northumberland, strewn with wetlands. From lagoons stained the deepest green by summer algae to flooded tyre ruts, glinting water in the arable fields. This blog is a snapshot of research at the University of Northumbria as we explore this pondscape forged between northern sea and sky.

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Tuesday, 12 July 2016

The Druridge Open cast gets approval. No surprise, but just the beginning

Northumberland County Council have voted to approve the
Druridge Bay open cast mine application, 13 to 0 in favour. The decision and
size of the vote seemed to cause surprise but should not do. Every wise Councillor
knows you do not take decisions at meetings. That is far too clumsy and risky.
Instead they will have consulted widely beforehand and I expect every councillor
who went into that meeting had a good idea how they and their colleagues were
going to vote. A unanimous vote is also important to avoid creating more
friction and misunderstandings. Ultimately the council went for the jobs
argument which, given the deprivation in much of south east Northumberland is
understandable, at least for the mine jobs which could be counted in advance. Hard
to measure any losses that the mine might cause if other businesses suffer.
Councillors were also at pains to raise diverse points to show their awareness
of the complex issues although the criticism of the overwhelming numbers of objectors
as coming from as far away as Madagascar and Banglasdesh sounded like nervous
over reaction.

Banks and the Council will be waiting to see if the government
calls in the application, although whether there will be a functioning government
may be a more pressing problem.

The outcome might seem like a straight forward win for Banks
and the application. However the sheer numbers of objections from very local
people still leaves a very divided community. A classic conservation problem. The
avocets and egrets, harriers and pink foot are very good at looking after themselves
given the chance. Conservation is more about people who want to earn a living,
go for a walk, support a family, bird watch, revel in the peace and quiet, fear
disturbance, worry for house prices. Banks will also have a lot to live up to
and, without owning the land, are taking a risk themselves. What if the land
owner does not want the mitigation plans proposed for seven years time? After
all times change and the farming economy is likely to have changed markedly
post Brexit. What if Banks want to extend the mine area along the lines of the
earliest plans? The mine if only due to last seven years. What will happen to those
50+ jobs in seven years, are they a trump card that be played over and over again.
The Council have taken a risk too. They will want the proposal to work well.The Druridge open cast saga is far from over.